|
Since it opened in 1977 as a baseball stadium,
Olympic Stadium became one of the worst stadiums in the sport.
Professional baseball in Montreal dates back to 1928 when the
Montreal Royals were part of the International League. From 1939
until 1960 the Royals were the Triple A affiliate of the Brooklyn
Dodgers. The Dodgers dropped their affiliation with Montreal after
the 1960 season and the city was without professional baseball. Led
by Montreal councilman Jerry Snyder, the city began the quest to
obtain a Major League Baseball team. In December 1967 the city was
awarded a franchise, the Expos who would begin playing in 1969. Part
of the agreement of awarding the city a franchise was that a new
stadium would be constructed. The Expos had to find a temporary
stadium to play at before a new stadium was ready. Major League
Baseball nearly revoked the franchise because the Expos were unable
to find a stadium to play their games at. However, they settled for
an expanded Jarry Park when they began playing in 1969. The team had
expected to be playing at a new domed stadium by 1972. Because of
numerous issues this did not happen.
In May 1970 the City of Montreal was awarded the
1976 Summer Olympics. This led to the construction
of a new stadium that would be used for the Olympics
and then the Expos. The new stadium was named
Olympic Stadium and became the first to have a
retractable roof. Because of construction delays
Olympic Stadium opened unfinished for the Olympics.
The retractable roof was unfinished because a 522
foot hoisting tower next to the stadium was only a
quarter of its planned height. The retractable
fabric roof that was to be suspended from the tower
by cables, also was not in place. However the field,
working spaces and spectator areas were complete at
the stadium allowing the Olympics to occur.
The Expos played their first game at Olympic Stadium on April
15, 1977. Over 57,592 fans filled the stadium to see the Expos on
opening day. Without the retractable roof, an opening smaller than
the playing field was present from 1977 to 1986. Finally, in 1988
the tower was completed and the roof was added. However there were many
problems with it. Hoisted by 26 steel cables, the enormous fabric
roof was suppose to fold into the adjacent leaning tower, much like
a giant umbrella, but it did not. The Kevlar membrane roof cost
$700,000 in annual upkeep. The roof was orange inside and took 45
minutes to open. It remained closed until 1997 when it was
removed. The Expos played the 1998 season under the weather as the
dome roof was replaced for the 1999 season. However it was not retractable. In
1991, the stadium was remodeled. The seating
capacity was reduced to
46,500 and the installation of new modern scoreboards and new
retractable stands were added so football could be played at the
stadium.
During the 1990s, the Expos pushed for a new
ballpark to be built in downtown Montreal. After many attempts, the project to
build a new ballpark never materialized. In 2002, the Expos were
mentioned as a possible contraction candidate and many fans thought
the 2002 season would be the last year that the Expos would play in
Montreal after MLB purchased the club. In an effort to increase team revenues, the Expos played 22 games in Puerto Rico during the
2003 and 2004 seasons. The 2004 season was the last
season the Expos played at Olympic Stadium. The team played its last
game at Olympic Stadium on September 29, 2004. The team moved to
Washington, D.C. and RFK Stadium for the 2005 season and is now
known as the Washington Nationals. Today, Olympic Stadium remains
standing. It is used for a variety of events.
|
